Meet the Parents
by TheSilverArgents
Summary: "David Jacobs don't insult me. Clara Wyman is never scared…but nervous is a whole other ball game."


_A/n: I've been debating writing this for like the past week simply because I've only ever seen the film once in it's entirety and I didn't want to mess the characterization of Meyer, Esther, and Sarah up because if you know me, I hate it when people are out of character. And onto another topic before you guys read the fic. I'm getting surgery on the 10th (if you're curious as to why you can shoot me an ask and I'll tell you) and I get incredibly lonely and develop cabin fever. So please send in fics so that when I wake up I have something to look forward to. All my love, Sabrina. _

* * *

Clara's entire day consisted of sitting on a train bound for New York City. She had spent two weeks at her parents' plantation in St. Louis and she was already itching to get back to the city. Her Southern accent was back in full force and she desperately needed to be around people who didn't replace the 'i' in Missouri with an 'a'. She had to admit she missed her family, but she especially missed her father. His job rarely gave him time off, so he decided to waste it all in one fell swoop and haul the family back to the Wyman Plantation for a two week reunion with the extended family that now looked over the plantation for them. They'd spent afternoons locked in his old study, just the two of them, discussing medicine and rumored cures for certain ailments. She sighed, shaking the thoughts out of her head as she finally reached the apartment building.

Clara had missed David. Quite a lot, actually. They wrote to each other as much as they could and somewhere along the line, he'd invited her to dinner with his family the day she got back and she replied with an enthusiastic yes. Now, standing in an understated white and green dress outside of the apartment building of someone she cared for almost a bit too much, she was suddenly feeling much less enthusiastic. Not because she didn't want to meet his family, she was nervous about meeting his family. She'd met and spoken to Les quite a lot in the five months that she and David had been together and she was quickly introduced to Sarah once, but his parents were a whole different matter.

It wasn't so much of making a good impression, the way her mother told her to, but she genuinely wanted them to like her and see that David wasn't spending his time with a lunatic. She straightened her dress and patted the back of her head to reassure the intricate twist she had pulled her hair into was still in place. She held on a bit more firmly to the bouquet of flowers in her hand and opened the door to the building.

* * *

The apartment, to say the least, was in chaos. Esther Jacobs was busying herself in the kitchen even though the food was already cooking and had enlisted Sarah to assist her, Meyer Jacobs was staying out of their way and keeping Les entertained with wild tall tales, and David was in a chair not quite reading a book. He'd missed Clara a lot and was dying to see her. He actually whined to Jack about her being gone for two weeks, and David Jacobs isn't the sort of boy who pouts. But, all common sense seemed to go out the window when it came to Clara Wyman.

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door and everyone looked up from what they were doing. Esther's eyes were wide with something that almost resembled panic and David felt his heart race to a quicker beat than usual. "Don't just sit there, dummy! Answer the door!" Les said rolling his eyes. Meyer hid a smile at that and David got up and straightened his vest before swinging the door open to reveal Clara.

Her long, blonde hair was done up in this complicated braid, a white and green dress brought out the blue in her eyes, and with her hair pulled back the way it was, the dusting of freckles on her nose and cheeks was more prominent than ever. It took him a moment before he could breathe out a hello.

She was grinning at him and pulled him into a hug, burying her face into his chest. "Two weeks, two days, and fourteen hours of my mother asking me why I didn't mention I had a suitor in any of my letters to her. I missed my sanity, David" She groaned, though it was muffled by his shirt. He laughed and hugged her back with equal fervor as if she might disappear.

"Clara," David had noticed something in the way she spoke, "What, um, happened to your voice?"

She groaned into his chest, but looked up at him with slightly pink cheeks. "Lovely St. Louis, Missouri has an accent that's as catching as the Bubonic Plague. I'm hoping time around you Northerners will help remedy that problem."

"It isn't that bad, it's sort of charming actually." He admitted to her lightly. It was charming though, her words seemed to kind of drawl out of her when she spoke. He smiled down at her as the blush faded from her cheeks and she began smiling coyly, "Charming, is it?"

She tilted her head upwards and he got the message quickly enough and leaned in closer to her, but before their lips could meet, Les stepped right in front of David, "Hey Clara, miss me?"

David froze in place and sighed with annoyance. "Of course I did!" Clara exclaimed immediately looking down at Les and mussing up his hair. David swung the door open wider and gestured for her to enter as she spoke animatedly with Les. When she entered, he closed the door behind her and laced one of her hands with his. She looked up at him with a relieved smile blooming on her face. There was something in her face that he usually never saw there.

"Is Clara Wyman scared of meeting my family?" He whispered in her ear while she played with the cuff of her dress sleeve.

She rolled her eyes, "David Jacobs don't insult me." Her words seemed to be a bit more severe with the Southern accent, "Clara Wyman is never scared…but nervous is a whole other ball game."

He gave her a small smile and kissed her cheek chastely, "Don't worry about them, they're harmless."

At that moment, Esther came out of the kitchen wiping her hands on her apron followed by Sarah. "Well, you must be Clara. I have been hearing your name left, right, and center for the past four months."

Clara's eyes widened in surprise at this bit of news and David blushed, while looking down at the floor. "Five months, Mama, if we're going to thoroughly embarrass me." Clara chuckled lightly and presented Esther with the bouquet of flower, "For your home, Mrs. Jacobs"

Esther put her hand to her chest and sighed, "These are so beautiful. Look at all the colors. Meyer come over here and look at the beautiful flowers Clara brought for us."

Clara took in a deep breath as Meyer Jacobs walked in and shook her hand, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Clara."

She smiled back at him pleasantly, "And you as well, Mr. Jacobs."

"What kind of flowers are they?" Sarah asked walking out from behind her mother.

"Oh, dahlias. They're from my mother's garden back home. And in between the dahlias are flowers from the pear tree. My aunt made the arrangement" Clara replied easily.

David had to hold back his laugh. 'Pear tree' was an understatement compared to the orchard he'd been shown a photo of. She bumped her hip with his as if she knew what he was thinking. Clara became quite uncomfortable when her family's fortune was brought up, for some reason. Perhaps it had been that she'd always been away from her family for such a long time that she hadn't been used to the lavish Southern lifestyle her mother cherished or the lifestyle that her family had recently begun to enjoy in Washington D.C.

"Well," Esther announced, "let's not just stand about! Sit down everyone, dinner will be served in five minutes."

* * *

Halfway through dinner Meyer Jacobs said, "So Clara, you're from St. Louis, right?"

"Yes sir." She answered after a sip of water.

"So, what brings you all the way to New York?" he inquired, as he helped Les to some more of the casserole.

"Oh, I've been living in New York since I was fourteen. I attended boarding school upstate."

David watched her from his seat next to her as they ate, ready to save her from any embarrassment if he needed to.

"Oh is it that school up in Albany? I heard that that place was excellent." Meyer asked her, intrigued.

Clara shook her head and swallowed, "No, it's called the Emma Willard School. Up in Troy, it's an hour so from here by train. After Willard, I went to finishing school in Westchester."

"You went to finishing school?" Sarah asked with wide eyes.

"For four months, however I dropped out and enrolled myself in nursing school instead."

David smiled at her with an odd sort of pride. It happened ages before he met her, but there was something about that story that made his feelings for her a bit more intense. "That takes a lot of courage." He said and she smiled at him. It's what he said the first time she told him the story.

Esther and Meyer nodded in agreement, "And you enjoy nursing?" Esther asked, filling Clara's glass with more water.

Clara nodded and said, "I love anything that has to do with medicine. I find it fascinating."

Sarah looked at her in wonder, "How did you end up with Davey?"

Esther scolded her while Clara covered her mouth to hide her laughter and David shrugged, "Luck, I guess?"

Clara rolled her eyes and twined her hands with his under the table, "No, we just have meddling friends." They smiled at each other for a moment that seemed to go on forever before Meyer cleared his throat.

"What do your parents do, Clara?" He asked, clearing off his plate.

That sobered her up quickly enough. She took a sip of water to try to delay the moment she'd been dreading all night. David squeezed her hand and she sighed, "Well my mother manages the home we have in D.C. and my father is in medicine."

The answer was pretty nonspecific and she knew that people would get curious and she'd have to tell them eventually, but right now she'd rather just put it off.

"You have a home in Washington D.C. as well?" Esther asked with raised eyebrows.

Clara nodded, "It's where father works so we moved out there about fifteen years ago."

"He works in a hospital?" Meyer asked before taking a sip of water and leaning back into his chair.

"Um, he's in the Marine Hospital Service." Clara answered, leaving it at that and turning to Davey with a panicked expression. He smiled at her, trying to calm her and spoke only for her to hear, "You might as well get it over with. It's not that bad."

"Are you sure?" she whispered back and he nodded back at her. She had no idea how to start and her face must have shown it because Davey squeezed her hand and then announced, "Clara's father is the Surgeon General." and returned to his meal.

Meyer sat up, Esther dropped her fork, Sarah's expression became even more incredulous and Les and David continued eating as if nothing had changed.

"Your father is the Surgeon General of the United States?" Meyer asked carefully.

Clara nodded timidly, her cheeks turning red, and David squeezed her hand.

"_How_ did you end up with _Davey_?" Sarah asked again with a look of bewilderment. Esther didn't even scold her, but looked straight ahead, "I have the daughter of the Surgeon General at my table and I'm feeding her a casserole."

"Oh no, Mrs. Jacobs this is amazing! Really, I've never ever had a proper home cooked meal before, not like this at least. My mother doesn't even cook! This has been fantastic, really." Clara assured her genuinely. A strand of hair had come loose from her twist and David tucked it behind her ear. Meyer and Esther saw this and exchanged glances.

A few moments of silence passed before Les asked, "So Clara, have you ever cut someone open before?"

* * *

"That was fun." Clara told David as he walked her out of the apartment building swinging their hands in between them. He smiled at her as he held the door open for her and she walked out before pulling him along with her.

"You know your accent seems to be going away." David informed her. He was kind of sad to hear it slipping. It seemed to be a part of her past that she didn't really know how to connect to and he wanted to know more about it.

She beamed at him in relief and sighed, "Thank god. I was starting to sound like my mother. Did you hear me when I gave your mother the flowers? 'Fir yer home'" She shuddered at the exaggerated accent she pulled out and he laughed pulling her closer to him.

They stopped walking to the sidewalk where they would have to eventually part ways. "Two weeks, two days and seventeen hours since we've been alone." She sighed and squeezed his hand. "I'm about to throw propriety out the window." She warned with a glint in her eyes.

Before he could even answer, she kissed him pressing herself to him as close as she dared and his eyes blew wide open before wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her up a bit more so that she wasn't craning her neck so much. Her fingers pressed themselves into the nape of his neck and she swore that she never felt happier than in this second.

"Hey lovebirds!" A familiar voice called from above them. Clara pulled away quickly and looked up to see Sarah sticking her head out the window with a cheeky smirk on her face.

"I'm busy, Sarah." Davey called back up with a hint of annoyance in his voice and incredibly flushed cheeks as he discreetly tried to wipe some of the lipstick on the corner of his mouth.

Sarah snorted, "Okay, but come up soon. It's getting late and you know how Mama gets." She ducked back into the apartment and closed the window. David sighed and turned to kiss Clara's forehead.

"We're never going to get a moment alone with my family, you know that right?" He murmured to her.

She nodded, "Don't forget Katherine and Jack, those two are relentless." She looked up at him and noticed some of her lipstick was still at the corner of his mouth. She laughed reached up to wipe it off, when the job was done she smiled, "All better."

He grinned at her and kissed the palm of her hand, "Well, Ms. Wyman it's getting late."

Propriety was back in the picture and she sighed, stepping back to a respectable distance. For some reason, she called Katherine's voice into her memory. She had told her something about her relationship with Jack, but Clara couldn't remember at the moment. She shook it off and asked, "Eight-thirty then, Mr. Jacobs?"

He nodded at her and replied, "I'll be at your doorstep to walk you to school at eight-thirty on the dot."

"Don't be late." She warned with a smile.

"I wouldn't dream of it." He kissed her cheek and she walked away, looking back twice.


End file.
